Being stalked, Need suggestions.

First off, this is not like it sounds. I have a friend who has been kind enough to allow us to set up a private range on his property. He has 240 acres on top of a mountain. The property is over run with Mountain lions and has some bears. Up above where he plowed out the range is a kill spot where the mountain lions have hauled up carcases. The range area is situated in a bowl shaped area.

So on with the story. My friend and I were shooting and as we got done with our string of fire and were reloading we heard some very big stepsd in the brush. Now I have been camping my entire life and I know what the woods sound like and there was deffinatley something out there. So I slammed home a fresh magazine and backed to the center of the clearing and waited. We heard some more steps going across our front then moving away. We waited a bit and heard nothing else and went back to shooting.

So now my question is this. The owner of the property is saying that it was probably a bear. He says that the bears will come to the sounds of shots inorder to see if you have killed anything they can eat. So now I am worried about a angry bear. it was recommended to me to keep a 12gague with slugs handy for protection. Do you all think that my Remington 870 loaded with Winchester Super X rifled hollow point Slugs. Would these be good adainst a bear? Also if it was a Mountain lion would the slugs also be good. Would a .45 acp be efective against a mountain lion. Thanks for any help. I appreciate you all reading all of this.

Actualy, this is a very real problem, first noticed in Alaska, and Canada, the bears learn very quickly that the shot soundmite mean food,,

If you could hear it more than likely a bear,, cats are very quite, but either way, keep the shotgun loaded and close, most of the quides I have talked to suggest a heavy load of buckshot for the first round followed by slugs.

I was practicing my fast shooting with 22 and 9mm semi auto pistol for an hour or more one day in a gravel pit about 200 yards long. I had some 454 casull reloads that I wanted to shoot for velocity and accuracy and while I was walking to the other end of the pit to set up a target (left the gun on the hood of the truck) a "small" (about 250-300 lbs.) grizzly sauntered out of the brush, saw me, and ran down the brushline about 25 yards and out of the pit. I made a b-line to get back to that 454. Unless this bear was completely deaf, he had come to investigate the noise and didn't expect me to be down at his end of the pit when he emerged. It was a fairly young bear and probably hadn't been shot at much if at all. Probably it's first year away from mom and naiive but still big enough to make short work of a human. No way it could have missed all the prior commotion.

Hmm, when I saw the thread title, I thought that you were being stalked by a fellow human being. Since it's a bear, I don't have any advice, however. Perhaps you should have said "being hunted" or the like? ;-P

Can't comment too much in the ammo side of things since I'm not a hunter, but I bet a 12 bore slug would really ruin an aggressive bear's day.

From a safety standpoint I'd say to not go out to that location without a partner. That way you can take turns shooting with the other acting as a "lookout" in case curious critters come looking for some fast food.

At the risk of thread drift....this is really a good strategy whenever we go out into remote locations for target practice. I've spent some time at a range in the George Washington National Forest and it's around 3 miles from the nearest hard road. It would be very simple for someone to use that range as a supply for some free firearms....at my personal risk. When FIL and I go out there, we take turns shooting and the off line person has holstered firearm and can act as an extra set of eyes.

the new high velocity sabots are about 1,900 fps and weigh about 500 grains IIRC. This seems quite adequate. Compare this to my .45-70 that shoots a 405 grain Speer flat point at about 1,750 fps, which would be considered fine.

Federal has some that are hour-glass shaped and supposed to be the highest velocity available. I'd pass on the buckshot. Each pellet is about the same as the old .32 Special load out of a revolver. On the light side for bears.

how big is this area you're shooting in? Is it possible, practicle, etc. to maybe throw up some cyclone fence on the permiters or atleast around your shooting positions just to give you a little protetion granted it won't stop them by any means if they want in but it will atleast give you a few extra seconds of heads up. setup some of those "alarms" that dope growers use, setup tin cans on wire surrounding the perimiter to alert you. granted you won't hear it over the shooting but it's a cheap way to possibly alert you. maybe next time also check for tracks.

I'd always heard the point of the buckshot was not to injure the bear at all but just to inflict a lot of pain over a large area. Hoped for result is it simply decides this is a bad place to be and goes away. The slugs next in line are for if it doesn't come to that conclusion. I'd guess this might make sense but really depends on whether you care enough about the bear to waste the first rnd time.

Slugs would be the proper choice.Spent most of my life in that area,was never bothered by any of the critters.I have been pretty close to black bears,they move very quietly.From the noise you describe,I would guess it was a person or a cow.

Pump Shotgun, first round buckshot all others slug. Place first shot to face with the hopes of blinding the bear so that you have a better chance of getting away after you empty the slugs into the bear (if the bear survives the slugs).

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I will as a result of this now carry my Remington 870 loaded with Slugs when I go to this spot. I do not have a 10mm (athough that may now be looked into to, anyone recomend one ) so my .45acp will have to suffice on my hip for now. For those that asked, I live in California and we have Black bears. The more I talk to people both on the 'net and in person, the more I believe it was a bear. I do not believe it was a 2 legged critter for the simple fact that it crossed in front of us AKA down range from us. A person would have to be pretty stupid to be down range from the shooters. This would also seem to bear out (no pun intended) the theory that the bear was looking for food. So now I would really like some suggestions for loads for my shotty. Again thaks to all for the help.

The chances of you hearing either a kitty or a bear are extremely slim. Both can move very fast and in complete silence. So can a moose when it wants to. Go look for tracks.
"...not to injure the bear at all but just to inflict a lot of pain over a large area..." The absolute last thing you want anywhere near people is a wounded bear. You'd also be guilty of a crime. Buckshot is nearly useless for anything but a fire fight in a phone booth. If you're afraid of bears, stay out of the bush or use slugs only.

If you shoot our poor defenseless Brother Bear or sister Puma, being tracked by a meat-eating predator is the LEAST of your worries!!

Fear not the mountain lion-fear Jenna, the sage-burning, hemp-wearing, Goddess-chanting vegan who will swoop down upon you and peck mercilessly, bringing her coven of sisters and fey brothers and many, many TV crews!!!

The absolute last thing you want anywhere near people is a wounded bear. You'd also be guilty of a crime. Buckshot is nearly useless for anything but a fire fight in a phone booth. If you're afraid of bears, stay out of the bush or use slugs only.

Didn't say I agreed with it, just what the "logic" was as explained to me. Personally I never liked gimmicks and I couldn't care less about the animal's health. Slugs all the way...unless I have something larger handy.

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